Sponsor Spotlight - Activist Targets Coca-Cola; Aviva Ends UK Athletics Partnership

Activist Targets Coca-Cola

Consumer advocate Alex Bogusky parodies TOP sponsor Coca-Cola’s signature polar bear marketing campaign in an effort to bring awareness to the health risks stemming from sugary drinks.

His short film "The Real Bears" features a family of polar bears suffering from diabetes, erectile dysfunction, obesity, and rotting teeth.

Throughout the ad, information is given about the health risks that the family develops.

The video was produced by the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a Washington D.C. based advocacy group.

"This is irresponsible and the usual grandstanding from CSPI. It won't help anyone understand energy balance, which is key according to recognized experts who've studied this issue -- a group that, by default, doesn't include CSPI. Enough said," a Coca-Cola spokesperson said in an email responding to the video.

The creators of the video say that it's not targeting Coca-Cola specifically, but rather all sugary drink companies in America.The video is featured alongside an original track from the artist Jason Mraz, entitled "Sugar."

Click here to watch the video on YouTube.

Aviva Ends UK AthleticsSponsorship

Aviva will end its sponsorship with UK Athletics at the end of the calendar year.

The announcement comes after UK Athletics had a strong showing at the London Olympic Games with household names such as Mo Farrah and Jessica Ennis winning gold medals.

The sponsorship was rumored to be worth $12.5 million per year, but Aviva would not confirm the figure.

The financial services company noted that its grassroots efforts will hopefully create a new generation of UK athletes like Ennis and Jonnie Peacock, who also won gold in London.

"The sponsorship has also enabled us to build awareness of the Aviva brand among the millions of sporting fans across the UK and we feel now is the right time to pass on the baton to another organization," said Amanda Mackenzie, Aviva’s chief marketing officer.

UK Athletics is rumored to be looking for multiple sponsors to fill the void left by Aviva, rather than one exclusive sponsor.

Olympic, Paralympic Sponsorship Benefits

Procter & Gamble, Coca-Cola and BP all continue to see benefits from their sponsorship of London 2012.

P&G is still running advertisements featuring the achievements of the Olympians it sponsored during the Games.

P&G’s strategy was to unite all its brands under an Olympic "umbrella" during the Games.

"[The Olympics] was a chance to connect our brands – but the challenge was to find a framework in which each brand and each different market could operate," said Nathan Homer, P&G's UK and Ireland Olympic projects director.

Coca-Cola, another TOP sponsor, felt "extremely positive" about its sponsorship of the Olympics.

London 2012 helped boost Coca-Cola’s social media department, while the company also managed to recycle 10.5 million plastic bottles during the Games.

Coca-Cola sold 17 million servings during the Games, while also encouraging young people to take up sport for the first time.

BP, which fueled more than 5,000 vehicles during the Games, "grew through the experience" of the Games.

The oil company sponsored teams USA, Angola, Egypt, United Arab Emirates, Trinidad and Tobago as well as Azerbaijan.

"We came back from Beijing [in 2008] and said we were going to do this [sponsorship] across the Olympics and Paralympics," said Mike Sharrock, P&G partnership director.

"To be one of the companies fortunate enough to be at the heart of it was a real privilege."

Written by Aaron Bauer

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